Hodgkin's Lymphoma, Chemotherapy, Getting Drunk On Less Alcohol,

Posted on Thu, 17 May 2012

Question: I have gone through 6 months of chemo & finished 6 months ago. I have noticed that if I have more than 1-2 glasses of wine or spirits, I feel & act like I drank a whole lot more. Is this normal & will it go away? I am a woman of 53. I was treated for Hodgkin's Lymphoma. I am physically fit & very active. No other health issues.

Answered by Dr. Joey (4 hours later)

Dear XXXXXXX

Thanks for the query.

I noticed couple of things when I looked at your current medications. It could explain the reason for your feeling of being excessively drunk even though you have not consumed much. It is called additive or synergestic effect when a drug modifies the effect of another drug(alcohol in your case), so that ultimately the effects of the two drugs add up or even exerts more effect than the sum of their individual effects.

Lexapro(Escitalopram) has an additive effect when given with an anti histamine like Allegra. Even though Allegra is a relatively non sedative drug compared to other anti histamines it still has some sedative properties. When you take Alcohol in addition to these two drugs, it also adds up to the drowsiness.

You can read more about these drug interactions of Lexapro in the following site:

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You can read more about these drug interactions of Alcohol in the following site:

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Please avoid or cut down the intake of alcohol since you are taking Lexipro and Allegra. Also please take care while operating machinery and driving when you are taking lexipro.

Hope I have answered your query, I will be available to answer your follow up queries.

Note: For further queries related to kidney problems Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar